In the 21st century, the Internet and the World Wide Web have become an increasingly important component of all types of communications. Internet penetration in North America is over 78%, and the there are over 2.4 billion Internet users worldwide. In other words, a third of the world's population are Internet users. People are spending more and more time online, surfing the web, watching videos, uploading photographs, looking up information, and socializing on social networking sites. Along with the availability of web-enabled devices like the mobile telephone, tablet computers, laptop computers, and desktop computers, the Internet is more accessible than ever before.
Current “click-to-talk” capabilities of Internet websites require a user to enter a telephone number so that a telephone can be placed to call the user. These services are more accurately characterized as request-to-call, since the website operator must use the supplied telephone number to call the user. These conventional services are disadvantageous because many users are extremely reluctant to supply their telephone numbers for fear of future uninvited sales calls and the possibility that their information would be sold to unscrupulous telemarketing companies. Despite this problem, studies have shown that websites that implement request-to-call greatly improve website conversion rates and see an average of 143% return on the investment (ROI).